eBay grows modestly in Q4

The eBay platform facilitated commerce of nearly $22 billion in the fourth quarter, a 5% increase, and counted roughly 265 million transactions during the holiday season.



Revenue during the period totaled $2.3 billion, up 5% on a constant currency basis, while net income on an adjusted basis increased to $600 million, or 50 cents a share, from $523 million, or 43 cents a share. The company said it generated $1 billion free cash flow from continuing operations, re-purchased $550 million of its common stock and completed the divestiture of its Enterprise business in November following the spin-off of PayPal earlier in the year.



“We delivered solid fourth quarter results and continued to make progress against our key priorities,” said Devin Wenig, eBay’s president and CEO. “The quarter also marked the end of an extraordinary year during which we completed the spin-off of PayPal. We continue to grow our business and customer base while executing our plan to reposition eBay for long-term success.”



The biggest driver of eBay’s total performance was the company’s Marketplace platform, which delivered $20.7 billion of gross merchandise value, resulting in $1.9 billion in revenue for the fourth quarter. Ebay also owns the StubHub ticket platform, which achieved gross merchandise value of $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter and $232 million of revenue, up 34%, aided by strength in the sports and concerts categories. Ebay’s classifieds business delivered another quarter of accelerating growth with revenue of $183 million, up 15%.